Journal of analytical toxicology
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A case of intoxication from the oral hypoglycemic drug metformin is presented. A number of published liquid chromatographic methods were combined to enable a simplified analysis of metformin in both antemortem and postmortem specimens. ⋯ In the presented case, the hospital admission serum metformin concentration was 141 mg/L, or approximately two orders of magnitude above therapeutic concentrations. The medical examiner concluded that the cause of death in this case was metformin intoxication, and the manner of death was suicide.
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First synthesized in 1970, propafenone is a frequently used 1C antiarrhythmic drug metabolized into two major metabolites, 5-hydroxypropafenone and norpropafenone. Paradoxically, fatal intoxication is rarely described, and only six cases have been reported in the literature. We report our experience with two patients found dead of self-inflicted poisoning where the propafenone blood concentration was very high (one concentration to our knowledge is one of the highest reported in the literature). ⋯ Propafenone was detected in blood by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and by high-performance liquid chromatography using a diode-array detector, respectively, as propafenone artifact and propafenone. Blood propafenone concentrations were 4180 ng/mL and 9123 ng/mL. The literature regarding propafenone pharmacokinetic and intoxication is reviewed, and we discuss the low death rate attributed to this drug in contrast to its frequent use.